Birthday: May 4, 1929.
Who is Audrey Hepburn?
Born Audrey Kathleen Ruston in Belgium, specifically in Ixelles, Brussels, Audrey is the offspring of biracial parents. Her father, Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston, was an Austrian while her mother, Ella Van Heemstra, was a Dutch Baroness.
After the divorce of her parents, her mother brought her back to the Netherlands. She experienced depression and malnutrition during World War II. After the war, she attended ballet school on a scholarship in London and then landed a modelling career.
5 Facts About Audrey Hepburn
- Her grit, strong determination, patience, optimism, and resilience with the support of her family allowed her to survived World War II in Holland.
- She was named one of the most beautiful people in the world by People’s magazine.
-
Renowned fashion and film icon in the Golden Age of Hollywood and ranked as the 3rd greatest female screen celebrity by the American Film Institute and awarded as an International Best Dressed Hall of Fame in 1961.
- In 1993, she became a UNICEF special ambassador and generously helped underprivileged children in Africa and Latin America.
- Named “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time” by the Empire magazine because of her unique style and elegance.
Inspirational Insightful Quotes
-
“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others”.
- “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says, I’m possible'!”
- “The most important thing is to enjoy your life, to be happy, it's all that matters.”
- “The best thing to hold onto in life is each other”.
Audrey Hepburn Biography
Early Life
Born in Brussels, her formative years were spent in England, Belgium, and the Netherlands. She attended school in London and Amsterdam, taking ballerina lessons and developing exceptional ballet skills. As a young adult, she worked as a dancer and model and studied acting lessons.
Acting Career
She started performing in musical theatre productions and later on played minor roles in numerous films then luckily got a role in the Broadway play “Gigi”. She found her niche in acting.
She migrated to the US to pursue her acting career. At 24 years old, she finally got her biggest starring role in the 1953 Roman Holiday, her first American debut rom-com film with Gregory Peck as her love interest. Her acting was remarkable, allowing her to earn her first Oscar Award as Best Actress. The film was a successful hit.
She made 31 top-notch entertaining films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Ms Hepburn decided to retire in 1967 at the pinnacle of her acting career to focus on her family life.
Marriage and Children
She married Mel Ferrer, an American actor, and gave birth to her 1st born son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer. In 1968, she divorced Ferrer and married Dr Andrea Dotti, an Italian psychiatrist whom she bore his son, Luca Dotti, a year after.
She stepped out of the Hollywood limelight and prioritized her family. In 1982, her marriage to Dotti was officially dissolved.
Humanitarian Career
Ms Hepburn was appointed as UNICEF’s Goodwill Ambassador. Here are some of the programs that she actively participated in:
In Ethiopia, she visited starving children in an orphanage and directed UNICEF to provide them with food in 1988.
In 1988, she visited Ecuador and Venezuela where she witnessed young children build their schoolhouse with cement and bricks contributed by UNICEF.
She brought enormous urgent world attention to the children’s depressing plight from different countries to the US Congress.
In 1990, she collaborated with the government of Vietnam for the implementation of the clean water and immunization projects.
Recognition
She was accorded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to recognize her altruistic humanitarian work with UNICEF. She’s also given a posthumous award, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her great contribution to humanity particularly the children.
In 2002, Hepburn’s timeless legacy of genuine humanitarian work was honoured by UNICEF at the United Nations Special Session on Children by unveiling a sculpture, “The Spirit of Audrey”.
Legacy
In 1994, her sons Luca Dotti and Sean Ferrer launched the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund, a non-profit charitable organization after her death to relentlessly continue their mom’s philanthropic work.
In October 2002, Hackensack University Medical Center opened a new facility, the Audrey Hepburn’s Children’s House, from the proceeds of the said organization which takes care of neglected and abused children in New Jersey.
Hepburn’s second son, Luca Dotti, led the United States of America Fund for UNICEF that solicited an estimated 100,000 US dollars. He also is the benefactor of the cancer charity, Pseudomyxoma Survivor, a rare kind of cancer that afflicted his mother. The institution is committed to offering invaluable support to patients afflicted with this type of cancer.
Another Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund humanitarian programs include the “All Children in School” project, a strategic 10-year partnership with the US Fund for UNICEF with the mission of bringing back to school one hundred twenty million children around the world, and a joint-venture with Casa Alianza in Central America, an organization that battles sexual exploitation of disadvantaged children. This program was recently established.
The Audrey Hepburn Children Fund's numerous diverse projects are supported by corporate business joint-ventures, co-ventures, events with other charitable foundations, and significant public support.
